Mike Lynch, co-founder of Autonomy. Image: The Royal Society
Mike Lynch could be extradited from the UK to the US, where he is facing fraud charges related to the sale of his business to HP in 2011.
Entrepreneur Mike Lynch has failed in his bid to delay a decision on his extradition from the UK to the US, where he faces fraud charges.
Prosecutors in the US want Lynch to stand trial on fraud and conspiracy charges connected to the sale of his company Autonomy to HP in 2011 for $10bn.
Lynch lost the latest round of his long-running legal fight today (26 January) at a court in London. His legal team was challenging a previous ruling and attempting to give UK home secretary Priti Patel more time to decide whether to agree to his extradition.
Patel must now make a decision this week on whether to extradite Lynch to the US. If she approves the extradition, Lynch may appeal again.
Lynch was aiming to delay the extradition process until after a decision in a London civil case brought by HP has been made public. This is expected to happen in the coming weeks.
US software giant HP sued Lynch and his former finance chief Sushovan Hussain for more than $5bn, alleging that they inflated the Autonomy’s value before they sold it. Both men denied the allegations.
After HP purchased the software company in 2011, it later wrote down the value by $8.8bn due to what it called “accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations”.
Lynch, a UK entrepreneur whose parents are from Ireland, has fought against travelling to the US to face charges there, which he also denies.
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